Prayer Circle for Animals Weekly Update
Our prayers for all animals continue to circle the earth, to
uplift humanity's consciousness, and to bless the animals themselves.
Thank you for joining people around the world who are praying this
prayer in many different languages but all with the same love:
"COMPASSION ENCIRCLES THE EARTH FOR ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE"
In the midst of the holiday season--the season of peace, family togetherness, and love--there are many homes where violence is the norm. The violence may be directed at a spouse, children or the animals in the home. It is estimated that approximately 48 percent of domestic violence victims don't leave because they are afraid for the safety of their companion animals. There are about 2,500 shelters in the U.S., but most of them do not have the ability to shelter animals.
Sheltering Animals and Families Together (SAF-T) and Red Rover (which encourages its rescue teams to be vegan) are working to solve this problem by helping shelters provide accommodations for pets as well as people. Recently Red Rover learned of a woman who could not leave her violent partner until she found refuge for her two horses. The group provided boarding for the horses so that the woman and her children could flee to safety.
This week let's send loving energy and visions of courage and a better life to the women (and some men), children, and animals who are escaping homes that have become places of violence, pain and sadness. Also let us include in our prayers the wonderful groups that are helping these families and expanding their circle of compassion to include the animals in their rescue work.
These are all folks who have taken a stand for compassion for companion animals. This takes courage to do in the face of a culture that denies the rights of animals. Theirs is a step away from our violence-based culture and toward a belief that human beings can live beyond violence. The next step after that brave departure is the dawn of awareness of the rights of all animals and an entrance into the revolutionary new world of the ahimsa, vegan, non-violent lifestyle in which exploitation and violence toward all animals and people is simply unthinkable.
Let us hold the vision of all people coming from many different directions and all arriving very soon at the same High Truth of who we all are-together in Love and Harmony with all beings everywhere.
With Love and peace from Judy
May all beings be happy. May all beings be free.
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Please visit the website www.circleofcompassion.org often to see updates and special prayers, and also to join in our "A prayer a day for animals" which features a prayer for a different group of animals each day of the week. It is also a place to send ideas or prayer requests. Please forward this widely so that we may continue to add more people to our ever-expanding circle of compassion.
1083 Vine Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Animal Justice Party
Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a political party in Australia representing an animal rights perspective in the Australian political arena. On 3 May 2011, the Animal Justice Party was approved by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and AJP was federally registered as a political party under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, making the party eligible for federal funding. AJP is the first political party in Australia formed to advance animal rights issues.
Backyard Animal Farming Not Necessarily Less Abusive
Raising animals for food, in any setting, is contradictory with a compassionate and loving lifestyle. Animals raised for food are almost always healthy young animals killed at a very early age, which raises ethical issues as well. God’s farmed animals are at our total mercy. When we broaden our circle of compassion and include all beings in it, we are actively participating in the healing and reconciliation of God’s Creation.
Have a blessed day!
<>< <>< <><
Lorena Mucke
Coordinator
Christian Vegetarian Association
Israel Goes Vegan
As animal-free eating catches on, restaurants, websites, and cooking classes reflect the latest food trend
I recently read Charles Patterson’s excellent and provocative book Eternal Treblinka, which shows the historical and spiritual links between contemporary animal abuse and the Holocaust of the Nazi era. Treblinka was one of the largest Nazi death camps, and the title derives from a quote from a book by Nobel Prize Laureate Isaac Beshevis Singer: “In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.”
In great detail, Patterson shows how the language and methods of animal slaughter have been remarkably similar to the slaughter of Jews, Gypsies, and other people during the Holocaust. Indeed, throughout history, those bent on slaughtering humans have first equated the future human victims with those animals for which their culture has contempt, such as pigs. Further, Patterson demonstrates that the Nazi methods of slaughtering humans mirrored the assembly line method of slaughter used to kill billions of animals every year quickly and efficiently. In both cases, there was no regard for the welfare of the victims. Finally, Patterson argues that the same “might makes right” ethic that underlies animal exploitation and abuse formed the foundation of the extermination of people the Nazis regarded as inferior.
Many people are angered by analogies between animal abuse and the Holocaust. In the next series of essays, I will explore reasons for this anger and discuss whether it is justified. At this point, I would like to note that few of those who find the analogy offensive are animal advocates, including Jewish animal advocates who suffered through the Holocaust or who lost loved ones in the tragedy. Indeed, as Patterson documents, many of the animal protection movement’s most ardent supporters have been Jews who have related that the Holocaust played a major role in motivating them to animal activism.
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
Kingdom Living
http://www.all-creatures.org/sermons98/s20121216.html
Welcome to Take Heart! We are delighted to bring to you the daily CVA e-newsletter with devotionals, discussions, inspirational quotes, health tips, recipes and much more. Your comments are very valuable to us and we hope you enjoy every edition.
This Week’s Famous Quote
“One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
New Vegan Magazine!
Laika is a new vegan magazine, published quarterly, that brings the fascinating, joyful, sustainable, compassionate vegan world to their readers. Take a look here! http://laikamagazine.com/
Have a blessed day!
<>< <>< <><
Lorena Mucke
Coordinator
Christian Vegetarian Association
Rev. William Cowherd, Vegetarian Church Leader
Read the fascinating story about Reverend William Cowherd, who more than 200 years ago demanded his congregation eat a meat free diet based on the belief that Cowherd believed that God inhabited every animal. Rev. Cowherd even wrote vegetarian hymns for his congregation. To learn more about this compassionate individual, please visit Vegetarian roots: The extraordinary tale of William Cowherd
If more church leaders would encourage their congregation to transition to a plant-based diet a revolution of love, joy and compassion would take place! Let’s all encourage church leaders to show compassion and mercy to all creatures. When leaders don’t lead, followers must sometimes become leaders.
Have a blessed day!
<>< <>< <><
Lorena Mucke
Coordinator
Christian Vegetarian Association
Message from the Earth Angels
~ Please, we implore you, be ever mindful of your treatment of the animals. For as the saying goes, you just might be entertaining Angels unawares. We speak of all animals, be they great or small. They were the recipients of a powerful activation at the time of Gaia’s ascent. They are the custodians of what is now Gaia’s new crystalline matrix, and this grid is very young and requires consistent nurturance. The animals carry the vibrations of purity and innocence, the fifth-dimensional state to which the planet is returning. They are the balancers. Think twice before taking the life of one such as these, as never before have their numbers been so vitally important. Do them no harm. Cause them no pain. Provide to them the shelter, warmth and sustenance that is so richly their due.
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/our-cultures-defining-dilemma-our-violence-toward-children-of-all-species/
Prayer Circle for Animals Weekly Update
Our prayers for all animals continue to circle the earth, to
uplift humanity's consciousness, and to bless the animals themselves.
Thank you for joining people around the world who are praying this
prayer in many different languages but all with the same love:
"COMPASSION ENCIRCLES THE EARTH FOR ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE"
Solstice events took place all over the world on the 21st and 22nd. Millions of people prayed, visualized, and believed that humanity experienced the end of the old world on December 21 and the birth of a new one on December 22. The echoes of those prayers continue to reverberate everywhere while, at the same time, we enter the traditional time of praying for peace among nearly all religions. That means that even people who do not believe in the prophecy of a new world coming into being are, nevertheless, helping to birth it with their annual "peace on earth" songs, carols, prayers, and blessings.
The energy field of all these prayers and thoughts is immense, perhaps more so than at any other time on earth. During this week and the next, billions of people are imagining peace and love as a way of living. Even the tiniest shred of hope for a world of kindness and compassion adds to the massive momentum of this unique time in human history.
As Prayer Circle for Animals partners, our mission is to join this enormous wave of hope and faith with our own knowing that ahimsa, nonviolence, cooperation, abiding love, gentleness, and compassion toward all beings, not just human ones, are the guiding principles by which we will create this new world together. Finally human behavior will begin to synchronize with our true loving hearts, and no animal or person will ever again be used, exploited, enslaved, or killed by human beings.
Whatever holiday you celebrate, may it be blessed with tender love and togetherness and may we all join the high and powerful energy field of Love and Compassion pouring in from all directions to all of us and to every being.
With Love, peace, and gratitude from Judy; and Will, Madeleine, and the Circle of Compassion team
May all beings be happy. May all beings be free.
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Please visit the website www.circleofcompassion.org often to see updates and special prayers, and also to join in our "A prayer a day for animals" which features a prayer for a different group of animals each day of the week. It is also a place to send ideas or prayer requests. Please forward this widely so that we may continue to add more people to our ever-expanding circle of compassion.
Do you want to make history? – YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E6ehL18rqlM
May this Christmas brings Joy, Peace and Love to all beings!!!
Reflections
I suggest less praying for healing and restoration and more action in healing and restoration. It takes 2500 gallons of water and 10 lbs of healthy grain to produce 1 lb of beef. Three quarters of all the rainforest around the world has been destroyed for cattle ranching and growing grains to feed farmed animals. Animal agriculture is one of the industries that contributes the most to pollution, global warming and depletion of natural resources. For every person on the SAD diet (Standard American Diet) 10 people could be fed on a plant-based diet. Ten billion land animals in the U.S. are tortured and killed so people can enjoy the transient taste of meat/dairy/eggs that drive our very high rates of obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. It's inconsistent to care about the sick, the poor, the hungry, the planet and God's creatures when one still supports the animal agriculture.
Just One Meal May Affect Our Health
What seems completely harmless to most people can actually cause much damage to one’s health. According to two Canadian studies, one by researchers at the Montreal Heart Institute’s EPIC Center and another by researchers at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, a single fatty meal seems to affect dilation and blood flow in arteries. Please visit Just one fatty meal can restrict blood flow to arteries
Although any reduction of animal products in one’s diet is a step in the right direction, eating animal products once in a while still harms God’s animals, the environment and our health. I think it’s easier to choose a path in which excuses are not made once in a while because there is simply no need for them.
Have a blessed day!
<>< <>< <><
Lorena Mucke
Coordinator
Christian Vegetarian Association
Cruelty to Farm Animals Found Acceptable and Humane
The latest undercover video by Mercy for Animals Canada, taken at Puratone Corp. farm in Alborg, Manitoba, shows undeniable egregious cruelty to pigs. Not surprisingly, an Animal Care Review Panel comprised of three experts, reviewed the footage at the request of the Canadian pork council and concluded that, “while some of the animal handling practices shown are improper, most of what is seen are widely considered acceptable and humane.” Please visit Cruelty at Pig Farm Considered Humane by Independent Panel
Cruelty to God’s farmed animals is legal and standard around the world. Farm animals would never willingly accept to be confined, mutilated without anesthesia, or killed. All sentient beings have God-given instincts and needs that they want to exercise. When we deny these creatures of this, we invariably deaden our empathy and compassion. To support the animal agriculture industry is to support cruelty. There’s simply no way around it.
This Week’s Video
Listen as Dr. Barnard tells what research clearly shows about the decline of the brain - and most importantly, how you can dramatically reduce your chances of becoming an Alzheimer's statistic with a vegan diet. Neal Barnard MD -- Go Vegan to avoid Alzheimer's Neal Barnard MD -- Go vegan to avoid Alzheimer's (VIDEO)
Have a blessed day!
<>< <>< <><
Lorena Mucke
Coordinator
Christian Vegetarian Association
1. Become a CVA Sustainer or Renew Membership
CVA Sustainer donations are crucial to the success of our ministry. Among the benefits of a $25 Sustainers donation is receipt of Lorena Mucke’s daily Take Heart! e-note, with quotes, stories, reflections, and recipes. To become a Sustainer or renew membership, go to
2. Essay: The Holocaust and My Journey
There are always multiple important factors that contribute the major choices we make in life. What led me to be unusually concerned about the plight of nonhumans? Early childhood experiences that I can’t recall likely played significant roles, and I suspect that living in the shadow the Holocaust was also important.
My family did not lose any close relatives in the Holocaust, but my being of Jewish descent likely added to the horror I have felt when contemplating the systematic murder of millions of innocent people. Trying to understand the causes of this enormous tragedy and thinking about how humanity might avoid repeating such events has been a major focus of my research and writing. I’d like to think that my book Guided by the Faith of Christ offers some insight into these important questions.
A probing personal question, which I think all of us should ask ourselves, is what would I have done if I were a German living under the Nazis? What would I do if my government were bent on killing innocent people? I remember well a discussion with my mother when I was about 12. She expressing dismay that the German people allowed the Holocaust to happen. I pointed out that resistance would almost certainly have led to death. She replied that sometimes evil is so great that you must resist, even if doing so would likely be fatal.
At the time, I thought that one should resist as best one could, even if doing so were very dangerous, but it would be foolish to die only for the purpose of taking a stand against evil. What would I do in the face of such evil? I know what I’d hope I would do, but I can’t know what I would do under a Nazi-like regime because my moral courage has never been put to such a test. However, contemporary factory farms present a somewhat analogous situation in that I see and have the opportunity to respond to evil.
Our society engages in animal abuse and murder on the most massive scale in human history. Nearly all of today’s societies treat nonhuman beings as the Nazis treated Jews, Gypsies, and other people for whom the Nazis had contempt. I am fortunate to live in a society where I can respond to this evil with little threat to my well-being. I have no excuse to be silent or inactive. I am convinced that I have a personal and moral obligation to advocate on behalf of the victims as best I can.
Next week I will further explore whether or not it is appropriate to use Holocaust imagery when describing factory faming – a form of institutionalized, contemporary animal abuse.
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
3. The December Peaceable Table Is Now Online
Contents Include:
* The Editor's Corner Essay reflects on Matthew's story of the massacre of the Holy Innocents, the babies and toddlers of Bethlehem, and compares these victims of a cruel local tyrant as well as systemic imperial violence, to one category of victims of individual and imperial violence today: the furred and feathered Holy Innocents massacred for food.
A Glimpse of the Peaceable Kingdom shows a pair of friends who don't look much alike enjoying a nature walk together.
Robert Ellwood suggests in an Unset Gem that when the gulf between two animal nations--as, e.g., that of elephant and human nations--is bridged, it is like a gate into the Heavenly Jerusalem.
A link to a video clip of the rescue by a knot of humans of a young humpback whale trapped in a gill net, and her joyous demonstration of freedom afterwards, is given in the NewsNote.
The December Pioneer is Titus Flavius Clement, aka Clement of Alexandria, a teacher of the early church who vigorously defended a vegetarian lifestyle, saying that we humans ought not to kill animals to indulge our tastes, but to treat them decently (including mothers and newborns, whom we should not separate in order to take all their milk). In short, a simple vegetarian diet, says Clement, is in keeping with respect for God's good creation.
Most of the expenses of producing and advertising The Peaceable Table come out of the pockets of a few members of Quaker Animal Kinship, our sponsor. We would be grateful for a Christmas present of some donations! (Make out checks to Quaker Animal Kinship; we also receive PayPal.)
To read this issue, see http://www.vegetarianfriends.net/issue93.html
Until the Kingdom comes,
Gracia Fay Ellwood, Editor
Good News for the Upcoming Year!
Good news! 2013 seems to be the year where vegetarian and vegan products take the center stage! Supermarket News magazine, in its "Top Ten Food Trend Predictions for 2013" article, predicts the rise of "new proteins," stating that "a major shift is anticipated in the nation's protein food supply away from meat-based proteins and shifting to meatless proteins." Restaurant Magazine predicts that the top trend for 2013 is that vegetables will "take their star turn," and major food consulting and strategy firm Sterling-Rice Group, foresees in its top 10 food trends of the year ahead that veggies, "no longer prepared as just a side or salad," will "take over the plate" and "get their chance to star as the main dish." Please visit Plant-Based Foods Predicted to Take Center Stage in 2013 and share!
Have a blessed day!
<>< <>< <><
Lorena Mucke
Coordinator
Christian Vegetarian Association
Prayer Circle for Animals Weekly Update
Our prayers for all animals continue to circle the earth, to
uplift humanity's consciousness, and to bless the animals themselves.
Thank you for joining people around the world who are praying this
prayer in many different languages but all with the same love:
"COMPASSION ENCIRCLES THE EARTH FOR ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE"
Recently a fraternity holiday party at Kansas University turned disastrous for one turkey who was "rented" for the event. Tragically, during the party the combination of too much liquor, underage drinking, no adult supervision, and bravado turned deadly for this turkey who was on display in a cage. The boys kicked in the cage causing the turkey to run terrified into the mob, members of which then decided to torture her or him. Her limbs were broken as the sadism continued.
The band stopped playing and several members attempted to rescue the turkey, but the mob killed the turkey before they could intervene. So they called the police.
The bad news is that this happened at all; that human beings do such things.
The good news is that the University, the Interfraternity Council, the District Attorney, and the main office of the fraternity itself have publicly declared this to be unacceptable behavior. This is punishable as a felony in the state of Kansas, and the display of the turkey is illegal in Lawrence, KS. The police have promised to investigate. Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns and Animal Outreach of Kansas both sent out mass emails, and the letters, emails, and calls are flooding into the authorities. Also, the newspaper printed my letter to the editor.
A decade or so ago, such behavior might never have been made public, much less have the possibility of prosecution. Compassion for animals is increasing. In honor of this one turkey, let us give thanks for all the people who are being proactive in seeking justice for her violent death. In honor of the millions of turkeys who are tortured, killed, and eaten every single day, let us give thanks for all those people with caring hearts who refuse to eat them and strive to protect them. May our prayers and our actions never cease as we visualize and work toward a world in which all beings are safe from cruel human hands, and all humanity finally comes to understand, love, and live in harmony with all living beings.
With Love, peace, and gratitude from Judy; and Will, Madeleine, and the Circle of Compassion team
May all beings be happy. May all beings be free.
***************************************************************************
Please visit the website www.circleofcompassion.org often to see updates and special prayers, and also to join in our "A prayer a day for animals" which features a prayer for a different group of animals each day of the week. It is also a place to send ideas or prayer requests. Please forward this widely so that we may continue to add more people to our ever-expanding circle of compassion.
May 2013 bring a gigantic wave of compassion and love that softens hearts and minds toward all our fellow Earthlings!! As John Robbins says, “May all be fed. May all be healed. May all be loved.”
This Weeks’s Famous Quote
“I believe every creature is born with the inalienable right of freedom. Freedom to live its life in its natural environment, with its kind, making its decisions. I believe the law should prohibit the enslavement of non humans for any reason whatsoever.”
~ Jim Morris, vegan professional bodybuilder
Omega-3s on the Spotlight
Much has been said about the positive effects of fish oil on people’s health, more specifically on the prevention of heart-disease because fish oil is loaded with omega-3s fats. However, the therapeutic effectiveness of fish oil–derived fatty acids remains controversial and physicians wonder if indeed it makes sense for patients to consume them. Please visit Omega-3s: Fishing for a Mechanism
Our oceans are dying. Industrial fishing and modern agriculture are pushing fish populations to a dangerous low number. The irony in all this is that cows nowadays are the largest ocean predators due to our insane demand for beef. Fish and other animals are not needed in a healthy diet. In fact, vegetarians and vegans can easily obtain omega-3s by consuming flax seeds, flax oil, canola and hemp oils, and even walnuts. Our circle of compassion should embrace all sentient beings, including fish.
Have a blessed day!
<>< <>< <><
Lorena Mucke
Coordinator
Christian Vegetarian Association
MAN – YouTube
Dating vegans site
